this monastery is being renovated for pope benedict. it will have a library for the scholarly man and his cat also accompany him. no word yet on whether there will be a piano as well. he is expected to distance himself from the politics of the church. >> he is somebody very far away from the intrigue, okay? he hasn't dwelled on that. if he did, i imagine he would still want to be pope and wielding power and making decision decisions. >> reporter: this morning, pope benedict will preside over ash wednesday mass. it was moved to st. peter's basilica to accommodate the thousands who are expected to attend what could be the last public mass of his papacy. the vatican has announced the conclave to choose his successor will begin the week after march 15th. matt? >> anne thompson in vatican city for us this morning. thank you so much. >>> mr. roker is here now with a check of the weather. good morning, al. >> hey, we've got a little unsettled weather in the east. down south, we've got a risk of strong storms in the southeast. a few winter weat